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Tatsuya Kawajiri
Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri is a featherweight fighter who fought for lightweight for most of his career. Twilight of Kawajiri's Dream career Kawajiri most recently fought a long-awaited match versus champion and acquaintance Shinya Aoki for the Dream lightweight title. He was defeated approximately two minutes into the very first round with a cringe-inducing Achilles lock submission. He was next rumored to face Satoru Kitaoka at the end-of-the-year Dynamite show. Instead, he faced former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson at the show in what was sure to be a slugfest. He defeated Thomson via unanimous decision. The rumor was that Kawajiri earned a shot against Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez with the victory. He next made his Strikeforce debut in a rematch against Melendez for the Strikeforce lightweight title. Melendez defeated Kawajiri via devastating first round TKO. Kawajiri returned to Dream to face UFC veteran and Dream newcomer Drew Fickett. He defeated Fickett via first-round technical knockout. He next dropped down to make his featherweight debut in a rematch against long-time rival Joachim Hansen. He defeated Hansen via third-round arm triangle choke after a superb effort from both men. Kawajiri next faced fellow Dream featherweight contender Kazuyuki Miyata, defeating Miyata via arm-triangle choke submission with mere seconds left in the bout's second round. With the victory, many fans felt that Kawajiri had earned the next shot at Dream featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya. Instead Kawajiri next faced Donald Sanchez in his OneFC debut, defeating Sanchez via first round triangle choke submission. Kawajiri next faced UFC veteran Michihiro Omigawa at the year-end Dream event, smothering Omigawa on the ground en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory. UFC Featherweight Run After a layoff of nearly a year Kawajiri signed with the UFC in October 2013 and expressed a desire to compete on the promotion's first Singapore show in January 2014. A matchup with veteran German striker Dennis Siver was rumored online. Kawajiri himself asked to fight contender Cub Swanson who had convincingly defeated Siver most recently. Kawajiri instead next signed to make his debut in Singapore against prospect Hacran Dias. Dias was unfortunately injured and replaced by fellow newcomer Sean Soriano. Kawajiri handed Soriano his first loss via second round technical rear-naked choke submission. Riding a wave of new popularity Kawajiri signed to fight veteran and former Strikeforce lightweight champion Clay Guida in what was almost sure to be a war. Fights *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Takumi Nakayama 2 *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Yves Edwards *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Caol Uno - The fight was a rare draw. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Vitor Ribeiro 2 - The fight was for the Shooto welterweight (154lbs.) title with Vitor Ribeiro defending. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Jani Lax *Takanori Gomi vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri - The fight was in the quarterfinals of the Pride 2005 lightweight grand prix. It was voted the Pride fight of the year for 2005. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen 1 - The fight was for the Shooto welterweight (154lbs.) title with Kawajiri defending. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Charles Bennett - The fight was Charles Bennett's last for Pride. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Chris Brennan *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Per Eklund *Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri 1 - The fight was for Pride. Gilbert Melendez came into the fight undefeated. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Firmino 2 - The fight was in the quarterfinals of the Dream lightweight grand prix. *Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri - The fight was in the semifinals of the Dream lightweight grand prix. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ross Ebanez - The fight was the Dream debut of Ross Ebanez and his only fight thus far for Ebanez. He did not make weight and forfeited some of his purse. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Gesias Cavalcante *Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri - The fight was for the Dream lightweight title with Shinya Aoki defending. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Josh Thomson - The fight was Josh Thomson's Dream debut. *Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri 2 - The fight was for the Strikeforce lightweight title with Gilbert Melendez defending. The fight was the Strikeforce debut of Tatsuya Kawajiri. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Drew Fickett - The fight was Drew Fickett's Dream debut. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen 2 - The fight was the featherweight debut of Kawajiri. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Michihiro Omigawa *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Sean Soriano - The fight was the UFC debut of both men and the first loss for Sean Soriano. *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Dennis Siver *Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Jason Knight Category:Featherweight fighters Category:Lightweight fighters